Cops clamp down on illegal vending

Police have stepped up their clamp down on unauthorised vending in Half-Way Tree in the past few weeks.

A vendor who recently witnessed a soup vendor's stall being seized told THE STAR that, “A suh dem a pressure wi from wah day yah, mi nuh know a wah gwan a must true Christmas a forward mek dem a do dem thing yah.”

He said vendors have to be playing a game of ‘cat and mouse’ in order to make a dollar.

“Yu affi run from dem if want protect yuh things cause yu cyah afford to lose dem money deh. Dem a tek weh di man things and all him a beg, dem wouldn’t gi him back,” he told THE STAR.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Dahlia Garrick, who heads the police's Corporate Communications Unit, says the latest drive is one of the missions of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch to maintain public order and safety

“At times vendor management is a part of that operation,” she said.

Garrick said the increased public order activities would include the enforcement of persons adhering to the stipulated guidelines of selling within public spaces.

"The KSAMC (Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation) is responsible for the issuing of permits for vending so they would establish vending zones and they would do all the necessary things to ensure compliance. If the area is not a designated zone and you are vending in that area, despite the length of time (you have been there), it would be an illegal activity,” she said.

She says in order to effectively manage public spaces and some of the places that persons are vending, might be an emergency exit.